The Orange County Grand Jury has opened a wide-ranging examination of the district attorney's office, which has been mired in internal strife and allegations of wrongdoing and conflicts of interest for more than a year. Several current and former prosecutors said they have received subpoenas requiring them to testify before the panel's criminal justice committee, which evaluates the efficiency of the county's justice system and issues reports to the Board of Supervisors.

Orange County officials agreed Thursday to pay a cash settlement to the former top assistant in the district attorney's office who sued the county last year after being demoted, according to sources familiar with the case. Devallis Rutledge alleged in his lawsuit that he was unfairly demoted because he refused to get his wife to drop her lawsuit against the district attorney's office. The settlement came shortly before Dist. Atty.

The race for district attorney intensified this week as a group of attorneys voted not to endorse their own boss, who is seeking reelection. Lawyers in the Orange County district attorney's office disclosed Tuesday that they endorse veteran prosecutor Wally Wade for district attorney. By declining to support incumbent Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, the Assn. of Orange County Deputy District Attorneys gave Wade his most significant endorsement in the campaign.

Dealing their boss a setback, lawyers in the Orange County district attorney's office disclosed Tuesday that they are endorsing veteran prosecutor Wally Wade for district attorney. By declining to support incumbent Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, the Assn. of Orange County Deputy District Attorneys gave Wade his most significant endorsement yet in the campaign. The move also marked the first time the association has declined to endorse an incumbent district attorney.

The Orange County district attorney's office, already shaken by nearly a year of internal discord and allegations of wrongdoing, is bracing for a nasty election campaign that some worry will further divide the office. Assistant Dist. Atty. Wally Wade formally announced his candidacy Wednesday with an attack on his boss, Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas. Wade said the various state investigations involving the office have created a "crisis of integrity."

As most Orange County schools begin classes next week, prosecutors will be cracking down on truancy by seeking court sanctions against students who routinely skip school, along with their parents. Three deputy district attorneys have been assigned to the new detail and will deal directly with the hundreds of students who are considered habitually truant. The goal is less to punish students than to get them to stay in school.

Al Valdez, a 15-year veteran of the Orange County District Attorney's Office, has been named Investigator of the Year by the California District Attorney Investigators' Assn. Valdez, a nationally known gang expert, was the first DA investigator assigned to the office's gang prosecution unit in 1992. Before joining the DA's office, Valdez was an Anaheim police officer for 10 years.

Government watchdogs are criticizing Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas for his handling of the latest controversy in his office: allegations that a deputy used an office computer on a political campaign. Rackauckas has not asked the state attorney general to investigate Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Steiner even though he has routinely handed off other allegations against staff to state prosecutors.

An attorney for a top Orange County prosecutor on Thursday accused Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas of trying to fire his client in retaliation for reporting alleged criminal conduct by the district attorney. Assistant Dist. Atty. Mike Jacobs, a 25-year prosecutor who has handled some of the county's most sensational cases, was escorted out of the office Monday and handed a termination notice.

Orange County district attorney investigators watched the admitted killer of a strip-club owner collect $3,000 for the hit last year, then let him keep the money while he was working for them undercover, an investigator testified Monday. Lawyers for a suspect in the case were highly critical of the authorities' actions, saying they should have seized the cash, not let a suspected killer profit from murder.